Use Honey For Burns

Most of us at one time or another have tried honey in tea to soothe a scratchy or soar throat, but honey has also been used to treat wounds for thousands of years.

A Dutch study has identified a protein called defensin-1 that gives the goo its antibacterial action that helps heal minor to moderate burns.

Honey has been renowned for its wound-healing properties since ancient times. At least part of its positive influence is attributed to antibacterial properties.

With the advent of antibiotics, clinical application of honey was abandoned in modern Western medicine, although in many cultures, it is still used.

These days, however, abundant use of antibiotics has resulted in widespread resistance. With the development of novel antibiotics lagging behind, alternative antimicrobial strategies are urgently needed.

The potent in vitro activity of honey against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and its successful application in treatment of chronic wound infections not responding to antibiotic therapy have attracted considerable attention.

-FAESB Journal, How Honey Kills Bacteria

Try this (honey) home remedy:

Apply warm honey to a minor cut or mild burn, then put a gauze bandage on top; change the dressing daily.

However, if you have a burn or wound accompanied by swelling, fever, or pain, check with a doctor instead; it may require oral antibiotics.

Note: Not all honey is created equal. Look for ‘natural’ honey (the real thing).

Note: Honey is dangerous for babies during the first year of their lives (infant botulism risk).

7 Comments

Years ago I read that the UN had asked developed countries to investigate their old wives health lore & find out which ones actually worked so that they could teach these methods to poorer counties whose citizens couldn’t afford antibiotics. Honey was one of the ones that worked on burns.

Shortly after that our 2 year old ran barefooted through some soil being sterilized with a tiger torch. One foot got a nasty burn. We used honey on it until we found impintago(sp) further up the leg. We took him to the doctor as we didn’t want that to spread to the burn. The Doctor told us that the burn was the nicest healing burn he’d seen in a long time & what were we doing to treat it. Since then we have often used honey with good results.

The best way to make sure you are getting real honey is to look for “Raw honey”. It looks like creamed butter with bits of wax and pollen on top. If possible, buy it in glass jars as this way it will last a 1000 years. The plastic containers would break down over time and I am not sure if it would impart plastic flavors into the honey. After using nothing but raw honey for years I can’t stand the taste of what passes as honey in the stores.

If you can find a local source for honey and use it in coffee tea or on baked goods.i have found it has cut my allergy and pollen problems way down in the spring and fall.I am lucky a man raises bees and sells it from his house less than a mile away.The best place to find it for most folks is farmers markets and craft fairs.

my landlady’s husband had a sore that wouldn’t heal. a new nurse came on the job, and put some sugar on the would and bandaged it overnight. the next day the sore was mostly healed. honey, sugar and salt are also used to preserve food because they all kill bacteria. i don’t know if raw honey is better than processed honey for this, but i know they both work.